If you’re still wondering whether to remodel your basement or not, then you should consider some things before jumping into conclusion. Everyone is now looking for some do-it-yourself techniques that they can do in order to save money. However, there are a lot of things that you shouldn’t save up some few bucks especially when it comes to home improvements. If it’s about finishing your basement, you should think it through.

When it comes to finishing a basement, a lot of professionals commented that most of the home improvement tasks done by the homeowner himself turned out to be horrible. Of course, there are a lot of homeowners out there who are enthusiastic about these tasks but finishing a basement should be left to the professionals. I will shortly describe to you why it is important to hire some professionals instead of leaving the task to your hands.

Pitfalls of DIY Basement Finishing 

If the homeowners try to do the task alone, there is always this potential pitfalls. One of the reasons is that these homeowners don’t have permits to do such tasks. There are codes and regulations that should be met which the homeowners are not aware of.

These codes are different from municipality to another, but they have similarities, like assuring a lumber that touches the floor should prevent a decay. Another one is to create a vapor barrier instead of framing it directly against the wall. If you don’t do this properly, mold issues might arise.

Another thing is when you don’t build floating walls chances are major structural damage will be done to the house. The floating walls allow the concrete floor to heave without damaging anything.

Another error that the homeowners commit is the improper ventilation for the furnace which affects the furnace efficiency. They don’t also use fire block during frame and foil-backed insulation which causes fire to spread fast if started.

For homeowners out there like you who thinks you can save few bucks my doing the basement finishing on your own, think it through. You can actually save more money and ensure your family’s safety by hiring professional contractors. Don’t try to act as the general contractor and just hire subcontractor for the plumbing and electrical tasks, all I can say to that is good luck!

Protecting Your Investment 

You should always ensure your safety. If you hire a basement remodeling contractor O’Fallon MO you can be assured that the job will be done according to the codes. Professionals say that the right contractors can finish the task in 6 to 8 weeks-time, it might be longer than what people think but it’s actually shorter than the time it will take for a homeowner to finish the job alone.

Remember that you shouldn’t compensate your family’s safety with your experimentation. Do-it-yourself techniques is impressive and a must-try for all, but for home improvements that are too delicate to handle, you should just leave it to the professional right? Besides, better safe than sorry.

Have you ever thought about business remodeling? If you want to make use of the vacant area in your house, then you’re probably interested in doing such project. Remodeling your basement will give you a lot of benefits, even if these are practical benefits or recreational benefits. If you haven’t thought if it a bit, then maybe it’s time to consider doing it. Honestly, you will get a lot of benefits from doing a basement remodeling.

Here are some of the benefits you can get from it:

1. Best Value

Increasing the livable space in the house is not considered cheaper because you really have to invest for it. An additional room of any size requires building or a structure, or remodeling. You won’t have problems with building a roof and wall because the basement’s structure is already there. With this reason, we can infer that remodeling your basement will give you the best value. It’s because of the comfort it will give you and other practical benefits.

2. Blank Slate 

If you want to add a bedroom, a bathroom or a playroom, then the design and decoration options would be limited only. It’s because at the end of the day you would want the new room’s design to be the same with the existing decorations and designs of the rooms.

However, remodeling a basement would be a different case. If you want to remodel it, you can turn it into something creative and wild. You will have unlimited decoration options. If you want to replicate a popular room in movie or TV shows, you can freely do so. If you want to make the room look like a Disney castle, you can do too.

3. Space

Remodeling your basement will give you more room to roam around or spend leisure time in. Basements have large areas so you can expect that your home’s livable space will double. You can turn it into whatever kind of room you want it to be. Refreshing right?

4. Resale Value 

Remodeling the basement for the resale value shouldn’t be the 1st reason why you opt to do it, however there are chances that it will return with great percentage of your invested money at the time of resale. The remodeled part of your house will also give more appeal to people who wants to buy your property, if ever you’re selling it.

5. Comfortable Space

Aside from the large space you’re going to have, you’ll also have a comfortable space. The basement is one the most easily cooled or easily heated space in the house. You won’t believe this at the moment because you probably haven’t remodeled it yet. The level of comfort the basement gives you will surely make you not regret of doing the remodeling in the first place.

Pro Tip: The things I mentioned are the practical benefits of remodeling a basement. However, it should be more on pleasure than practicality. You can convert the space into an entertaining, relaxing and fun place to hang-out or rest.

If you have an undersized house, you might have thought of having a basement as an additional space. If you are lucky enough to have a basement in your house when you bought it, then you might have considered transforming it into a home theater, playroom, gym and office. The problem is, it might cost you $20,000. Basement remodeling project is something you should be thinking about twice because of the crucial processes you have to do to succeed.

So, if you still want to consider making this project, then I will share with you some of the things you should consider.

1. Permit Skipping

Skipping a permit will be costly. Basement refinishing or remodeling is something that people do without a building permit, because it is located inside your house already. Since it’s only inside your house, you might be thinking that you can save time and cost when you skip the permit process.

This should be a “no!” situation. If someone catches you, the building department might force you to stop doing the project and rebuild it. Well, even if you did not get caught but you’re selling the house, the buyers might penalize you for the prize because of your lack of certificate of occupancy. Another thing is, a professional contractor might not be able to give you advices and technical oversight that you could have missed. Permit paperwork will only cost a few dollars by the way, so better safe than sorry right?

2. Investing in Noise Control 

Transforming a basement into a recreation room or playroom will cut down the noise you experience in the main living space. You can plan of making an insulating ceiling above the basement using stone wool insulation or fiberglass. There are also drop ceilings that offer noise control so you can enjoy your good time while on the basement.

3. Dry it Out First

Most of the basements are wet and the moisture will form into molds and will rot if you don’t dry it out before doing the refinishing or remodeling. Some of the solutions you can do is repair the clogged or damaged aligned gutters, put a sump pump and seal foundation cracks.

However, the moisture can still infiltrate. Avoid using organic materials when you finish your basement because the molds grow on damp organic material. It means that no plywood flooring, no wood studs and no drywall. The best to use is a waterproof basement finishing system. You can also ask your contractor to install a heavy-gauge plastic sheeting before you finish the floors and walls so the moisture migration will be avoided.

So those are the 3 simple things you can do before you decide to refinish or remodel your basement. It is a crucial task to do so remember not to dive in in the do-it-yourself techniques because it might cause you more problems. So now, it is safe to assume that hiring a professional contractor is the best thing to do if you want to become successful in this endeavor.